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Nigel Farage turns down £250k to appear on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!

Controversial politician Nigel Farage has reportedly turned down an offer of £250,000 to appear on this year’s I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!.

The UKIP leader, who will step down from his post in September, told Sky News there was “no way” he would be appearing on the programme.

The rebuttal comes quickly after it was reported that show bosses were eager to secure Farage for the new series, after a source told The Daily Mirror: “This year, everyone is talking about Brexit, so producers are desperate to snare one of the biggest names from the Leave campaign for the jungle to make it the most talked about series yet.

“Farage is a win with British voters – so producers think viewers would be keen to pick up the phone and nominate him to be covered in cockroaches or fish guts.”

I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! is a reality television show that first aired in 2002 and has seen continuous success both in the UK and internationally. In the series, thirteen celebrities are transported to the Australian wilderness, stripped of luxuries and made to compete in dangerous and often disgusting challenges in order to win food for the group.

Politicians are no strangers to the I’m A Celeb line-up, with former MPs Lembit Opik, Nadine Dorries and Neil Hamilton. Most recently, former Tory MP Edwina Currie finished in fourth place in the competition in 2014.

Earlier this month, Farage told the Daily Star that it would be “very tempting” to appear on Celebrity Big Brother – if EU president Jean-Claude Juncker were also to enter the house.

He continued: “I would like to torture them, mentally, slowly, for all the bad things they’ve done.”

I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! will return to ITV later in 2016, probably without Nigel Farage.